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14 years on, Lucknow Eye spins back to drawing board over soil conditions
IIT Delhi asked to reassess project feasibility after soil tests raised concerns over supporting the proposed giant wheel structure.
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Fourteen years after it was first proposed as a tourism attraction modeled after the London Eye, the ambitious Lucknow Eye, a 30-metre giant wheel project, is back on the drawing board. Soil conditions at the proposed Gomti riverfront site have forced the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) to reassess the project with IIT Delhi.
“The LDA has sought a revised detailed project report (DPR) from IIT Delhi after soil tests raised concerns over whether the alluvial soil can support the structure in its originally planned form. The authority will decide whether and how to take the project forward after receiving the fresh report,” senior officials told HT.
“The project has not been scrapped, but its feasibility needs to be reassessed in view of the soil conditions. IIT Delhi will prepare the revised DPR after factoring in the findings of the soil investigation,” senior LDA officials said.
Project failed to move beyond planning
The state government proposed the Lucknow Eye in 2012, envisaging it as a major tourism and recreational attraction near the Gomti riverfront. The LDA planned to execute the project through a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The authority had announced in 2015 that construction would begin within three months. However, more than a decade later, the project has not moved to the construction stage.
Last major discussion around 2022
The project also lost momentum after repeated attempts to revive it. Officials said the last major presentation on the proposal took place around 2022, when the LDA was considering placing it before its board.
Since then, the proposal has seen little progress. Officials also said the project-related file is currently not readily available with the officials concerned, underscoring the prolonged dormancy of the proposal.
30-metre wheel proposed
Under the earlier plan, the Lucknow Eye was proposed as a giant wheel with a diameter of around 30 metres. The design envisaged air-conditioned cabins equipped with audio-visual facilities, with each cabin capable of carrying up to eight passengers.
The project was expected to add a major recreational attraction along the Gomti riverfront and strengthen Lucknow’s tourism infrastructure.
For now, the project’s future rests on the revised DPR. The fresh assessment will determine whether the original design can be retained, modified or replaced before the authority takes the proposal to the next stage, LDA officials added.
